


By the great oak

by Ruralbagel



Category: The Hobbit - J. R. R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings (Movies), The Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Arranged Marriage, F/M, Fluff, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Self-Insert
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-09
Updated: 2021-01-19
Packaged: 2021-03-12 18:46:12
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,010
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28640226
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ruralbagel/pseuds/Ruralbagel
Summary: Our reader is an elven princess who has to marry the prince of mirkwood, unfortunately her heart already belongs to a stranger she meets in the woods.
Relationships: Legolas Greenleaf & Reader, Legolas Greenleaf/Reader
Comments: 5
Kudos: 18





	1. Chapter 1

"Father I don't want to marry him though, I've never met him before and he's probably like every other prince you've sent to court me."  
You sigh, looking imploringly lying up at your father but know it is of no use, he has put off the topic of your marriage for too long a period a time and it is time you married after the numerous embarrassing and public rejections of your suitors. It was true, you were pretty and incredibly clever, even for an elf princess, but none of this mattered if you were to continue to refuse marriage.  
"Y/n darling, please, it would benefit both our kingdoms massively if you were to marry this man, I have seen him and he is most certainly of fine figure and mind-"

Your father's stuttering makes no attempt to speak over you as you say pointedly, "Father, I do not want to marry for the kingdom, or for fine figure or mind, I want to marry the way you and Mama, bless her soul, did," you look up, eyes stinging with the reminder of your mother, "I want to marry for love."

At this, his expression softening as he leans down to stroke your hair, "I want you to be as happy as we were, nin glad, but can you at least promise to me you'll meet him, if he is truly awful then I will… I will try to reason with Thranduil, although it will not be easy, but if you are to find so much as a single thing that you think you could fall in love, please marry, for the sake of the kingdom," you sigh before he adds slowly, "Perhaps you needn't think of this as a marriage, more as an alliance between us, it is a marriage of tactics and diplomacy, we both know you are more than proficient in those areas, do we not?"  
"I will try father, I cannot promise that I will truly love him, but you must know that I will try in any way I can. Let this marriage be…" you trail off, for lack of a better word you settle for a simple, "Successful."  
"I do hope you do end to love him, I do truly want only for you to be happy."

You kiss his cheek as you dash out the empty throne room, waving to him until he disappears behind the great oak doors that close behind you. Your kingdom was small so it was odd to you that the elves of Mirkwood had an interest in having an alliance with yours. That is not to say that it wasn't rather well-to-do, your kingdom was beautiful, from the forests that never slept that you always visited in secret to admire the life that filled it, when your guards turned their watchful eye from you, to the cities filled with kindly and beautiful elves.  
It was to this previously mentioned forest you were sneaking off to now, you'd met a kind stranger there who came from a nearby kingdom, you had yet to learn his true name, suspecting that the name he'd given you was a cover, yet just turning his name over your tongue in low whispers, hiding underneath your breath, filled you with an airy excitement, if you could you'd catch that feeling and hold it close to you, crush it against your chest for an eternity so you could forever revel in that glorious, foolish excitement.  
Your feet know the path through the woods by memory now, you twist and turn, your ankles grazed by the brambles every now and then but save this you travel unharmed, every so often you stop to pick the blackberries, storing them in your pockets. Only so far until you meet the great oak you tell yourself, the forest seems to come alive around you, the breath of the wilderness filling the light mist that surrounds the woods.  
Finally you arrive at the great oak, you look up and sitting upon the branches, looking down at you with a fond expression he reclines.  
"Greenleaf. " You whisper breathlessly.


	2. Chapter 2

You dash over to him as he swings down from the tree branch, aware of the fact that this will most likely be the last time you ever see him before you're shipped off to Mirkwood, never to see the woods again and only visit your kingdom as a prisoner of this new marriage.  
"You came," he laughs, offering you an apple as you give him a handful of blackberries you fish from the depths of your pockets, "I am glad you have time for me, your visits are one of the few things that provide me true joy."  
You grimace at the mention of visits, taking a step back you try to find the power in your voice that you can no longer meet with him, not here at least, but your voice comes out as a croak.  
"Is something the matter, Briar?" He mentions the name you'd given him casually as he sits, leaning comfortably against the tree.  
It takes a strange amount of will to mutter, "We can't meet anymore," at his look of disbelief you quickly add, "I'm getting married. "  
He raises an eyebrow and says, "What has that to do with anything, if your husband is so controlling that he feels he must control those you befriend, he is not worthy of being yours."  
The word friend stings slightly as it slips off his tongue but you press onwards nonetheless, "That much would be true, but my husband does not live in this kingdom, he is from someplace else. I must travel to Mirkwood for our courtship. "

At the word Mirkwood an unrecognisable emotion passes quickly over his face and yet he masks it quickly, hiding it behind a smile that seems almost forced as he stands upwards, offering a hand to help you to your feet, which you gladly accept.

"I must confess, if we are speaking of marriage I have recently gotten engaged, which I suppose is for the better," he smiles and it doesn't seem to have the same dazzling effect that it did just minutes ago.

"Oh my, who's the lucky girl?"   
You elbow him playfully but his face remains solemn, "I am not entirely sure," he says with an air that he seems to be trying to play off as carefree but seems more cold than anything, "It was arranged by our parents. I suppose I wouldn't be able to meet with you for much longer either. "  
You smile sadly at his mention of marriage and make a feeble excuse to leave, uncomfortable with the new feeling that hung heavy in the air.  
As you turn to leave he catches your hand and says, "I am glad I met you, Briar, I wish you the best in whatever comes of you, my life has brightened in your presence."

"Can I ask something of you?" You breathe, turning around to look into his blue eyes that shone so brightly.   
"Anything."  
"Before I leave, won't you tell me your name?"  
He tilts his head in gentle consideration before laughing gently, "Provided you tell me yours first."  
"I am y/n, princess y/n-"  
Your voice cuts off seeing Greenleaf's panicked expression, his face seems frozen with a look of shock written clearly across it. You suppose that would be a normal reaction when meeting the princess of the kingdom but there's something more to his expression, it seemed there was fear, anger and some other strange emotion you couldn't quite interpret. You reach out to comfort him and he snaps out his haze and turns away from your touch.  
Without so much as an explanation for his reaction he turns away coldly and with voice cold as ice he says clearly, "I think it is time I left."  
With that he turns on his heel and runs out the forest, leaving you dumbstruck in the forest clearing


	3. 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know that this doesn't have any interaction between our two favourite characters, but they will speak soon, I promise. :)

The next few days allow you to recover from Greenleaf’s sudden departure and lets you prepare for your journey to Mirkwood, your new wooden cage.  
Your father stands teary-eyed at the top of the steps, kissing the top of your head affectionately, “I never thought I’d live to see the day my precious y/n leave the kingdom, and to be married, no less.”  
With that you tilt your head, ruffled at the word of marriage, “We shall see about that, I have yet to so much as hear the name of my husband, much less accept his proposal, I am sure I will not be gone from here for so long. Whoever this man is, he can surely not be charming enough for the likes of me. Now you’re sure you’ll be alright alone?”  
He laughs and ruffles your hair, which your doting nanny rushes to fix as she tuts in disapproval, “You know as well as I do that a king can never be alone, the servants are my friends and your brother is visiting in a week, and of course,” he stutters, tucking a lock of your hair behind your ear before affectionately pinching your cheek, “You will write to me, will you not?”  
You can’t help but grin as you jump up to hug him, “Of course I will, Atar, I promise you I will return home as soon as is possible, perhaps even earlier than you want me to.”  
With that you rush down the palace steps, hitching up the fronts of your skirts as you clamber into the carriage, surrounded by many other wagons that hold your luggage, but mostly gifts for the king of mirkwood, Thranduil. Jewels, wine, other things that you could not quite see without making it obvious that you were staring.   
As the carriage wheels began turning, you fling open the window and lean out of it, you yell at the top of your voice to your father, “I’ll be back soon.”  
He has no retort for me this time, he simply smiles and waves, you relish the final glimpses you see of home, before getting tugged back in by your handmaidens.  
The ride to mirkwood is disappointingly uneventful, you’d somewhat selfishly hoped that the carriage would be stopped in the middle and you could’ve run away into the woods, but you knew that you were relatively safe in the carriage, listening to Elva chitter excitedly about the possibility of finding a lover in Mirkwood, seeing as they were “so much more mature than the boys in our kingdom”.  
You sighed and indulged her in her fantasies of marriage after meeting a handsome stranger until the carriage stops and you realise with a knot in your stomach that you’ve arrived at the gates of the Mirkwood elves’ kingdom, you can’t see anyone on in any noble dress to greet you and instead of feeling some great relief washing over you, you feel slightly disappointed. Not that you’d been excited to see the prince of course, you were very obviously desperately longing to leave this place.   
When you stepped out of the carriage, a somewhat worried looking servant hurried to your side, “I apologise, lady y/n, the prince is in his chamber and he,” you raise an eyebrow in gentle curiosity and the servant bows their head, “He refuses to meet with you.”  
You couldn’t help but feel slight anger at this, you’d been delivered, served up on a plate to a prince who couldn’t be so much as bothered to greet you, you force on a smile and at the reaction of the poor servant, you could imagine how it would’ve looked rather frightening. 

You had been told you could be terrifying when you tried to be, “My good lady, would you like to guide me to the prince’s quarters?”  
She looked up and whispered, “Please, My Lady, I am under instruction by my prince-”

You said softly, “Well then I am giving you orders from a new authority.”

“And who would that be?”

“Your princess.”


End file.
